If you’re at all plugged into the vegan straight edge world and you’re still not giving your full attention to Denver’s Moral Law, then let me be the first to tell you how much you’ll regret not doing so, especially after hearing their new LP titled The Looming End.
With this latest effort, out now on New Age Records, yet again Moral Law outdoes themselves, coming in swinging with an eleven song hurricane of pure XVX ferocity.
As with their past releases, The Looming End pays clear homage to the band’s 1990s metalcore ancestors, effectively making their mark on the lineage of bands like Day of Suffering, Culture, and Morning Again, unlike a majority of modern bands of the style that try to do so and miss the mark.
Instead of allowing themselves to fall into the familiar (and beaten to death) tropes of their subgenre, Moral Law takes a page from the playbooks of other successful modern edge metal bands like xELEGYx and xRepentancex, bringing their own fresh ingredients to the table that allow them to write their own chapter in the history books as opposed to just transcribing that of those who came before them.
Ingredients that include relentless riffs and song structures that, while obviously related to their predecessors, stand out as fresh and unique; and paired lyrics/vocals that effectively convey the brutal sincerity and raw emotion of vocalist Alex Morales.
The standout track is the first single off the record, “Abolitionist." A vegan anthem that calls the listener to action and mourns the senseless slaughter of innocent animals at the hands of mankind, complete with a spoken word condemnation of the animal agriculture industry delivered over a meandering dueling guitar solo before dropping into a skull-crushing '90s mosh riff that would undoubtedly be at home on the albums of any of Moral Law’s musical heroes.
Alex had this to say about the track: “'Abolitionist' is probably our most direct statement about our stance on veganism and the exploitation of animals. Everyone in the band not only believes in the ideals of a vegan lifestyle as an act of liberation, but we also are in full support of militant action for the sake of the animals in harm’s way.”
In closing, don’t wait a minute longer to listen to “The Looming End”, go vegan, and stay vegan.
Get It
- New Age Records (LP, cassette)
- Bandcamp (Digital)
Tagged: moral law
